


Star pose

by zjofierose



Series: Form Ficlets! [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Acrobatics, Galaxy Garrison, M/M, Pre-Slash, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-25 23:25:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16207874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zjofierose/pseuds/zjofierose
Summary: Sometimes it's important for training to be cooperative instead of combative. AKA Shiro has a hobby, and wants a friend.





	Star pose

“ _Partner acrobatics_?” Keith says, and Shiro doesn’t think the phrase could hold an ounce more sarcasm if it tried.

“Yep!” he answers, making his voice as irrepressibly cheerful as he can. “It’ll be easy for you. You’ve already got some incredible martial arts techniques, and I know how strong you are.”

“If it’ll be easy for me, why are we doing it?” Keith counters, but he’s grudgingly pulling off his uniform and yanking on the loose Garrison issue workout pants.

“Here,” Shiro says, shoving a pair of grey leggings at him, “you’ll need something fitted. Extra fabric can get caught, and cause a fall.”

Keith just stares at him for a long moment. “Oh,” he says finally, and reaches out a hand to take the compact scrap of fabric, “good.”

Shiro lets it go, dragging his own spandex up and over his thighs and pulling on a fitted undershirt. He doesn’t look over to see whether Keith is coming; it’s early days yet, they’ve only known each other a few months, but he knows. Where he goes, Keith will follow.

\--

“Ok, so,” Shiro says after they've gone through their standard stretching and calisthenics warm-up, “we're going to try the basics first. C’mere.”

“How is this a thing that you know how to do?” Keith groans, approaching anyway.

Shiro shrugs, lying down on the floor. “My buddy got me to go with them to some classes. I liked it, so I kept going. C’mere.” He pats the floor near him, and tries not to smile at the suspicious look Keith gives him. “I want you to stand a little behind my toes. I’m going to position my feet on your hips, and you’re going to hold a plank, but let yourself fall forward so we can calibrate the right position.”

“We’re going to do airplane,” Keith says flatly, “am I a toddler?”

“It’s called bird, actually,” Shiro says, taking Keith’s weight as he lets himself tilt forward when Shiro bends his knees, then pushing back up and adjusting his foot position slightly.”Ok, this time I want you to put your arms straight out with your hands flat like you were going to catch yourself. Good. And then,” he bends his knees, letting Keith’s weight tip toward his chest, “I’m going to catch your hands in mine and…” Keith makes a startled sound as he’s lifted into the air, but he manages to keep his body perfectly straight, “there we are. Bird pose.”

Shiro can’t help the pleased smile on his face at the vaguely disgruntled look of enjoyment on Keith’s face as it hovers above his own. “Now, release my hands, _slowly_ ,” he cautions, as Keith starts to move, “and hold them behind your back. Good!”

Keith floats, perfectly balanced on Shiro’s feet, his body a long, lean, line of muscle. He’s got growing left to do, but he’s already whipcord strong with a preternatural awareness of his actions and reactions.

“This is boring,” he says, but Shiro can hear the undercurrent of teasing in his voice, “is this what counts as fun once you’re over twenty?”

“Hold still,” Shiro says, and carefully drops a foot. He can see the sweat pop on Keith’s forehead as he holds his plank, all his weight poured into his right hip bone, forcing himself to stay in position through core strength alone. Shiro puts his foot back, and does nothing to suppress his smirk as Keith exhales in relief.

“Fine,” Keith says, bringing his hands down to Shiro’s so that they’re palm to palm again, “now I understand how your abs look like _that_.” He rolls his eyes, and Shiro snorts. “Show me something interesting.”

“Ok,” Shiro says, bringing Keith’s feet smoothly to the floor. “Come a little closer, and stand facing me, but with your feet by my hip on this side.” He pats the floor to his right, waiting until Keith gets positioned. “Good.” Shiro bends his leg and slides his foot up the outside of Keith’s thigh until it hovers just below the ball of Keith’s hip joint. “Now, reach down and take my hands, left to left and right to right.”

Keith makes a face. “Like this?”

“Yeah, but keep your torso lifted. Think of yourself as being in a two-dimensional plane, between panes of glass, perpendicular to me. Now, when I lift up,” Shiro pushes with his foot on the outside of Keith’s hip, just enough to bring Keith onto his tiptoes, “you’re going to keep your bottom leg heavy, keep it pointing to the ground. The other one floats up, but no higher than your waist, and keep it straight. Okay?”

“Yeah,” Keith breathes, and Shiro can see him trying to work out the mental picture of it in his head.

“Keep your arms strong - we want a firm and dynamic connection everywhere we’re touching,” Shiro says, and pushes into his foot, bringing Keith’s weight in line over Shiro’s hips and lifting him off the ground. Keith follows the instruction beautifully, pointing his toes without thought and letting his top leg rise slowly, settling into the balance as he rotates his shoulders open.

“Good,” Shiro breathes, “release your left hand, point to the ceiling? And you can let go the other hand and grab onto my leg right below my knee.”

Moving carefully, Keith shifts until his arms are placed per Shiro’s instructions, his face a picture of concentration as he works to keep the balance steady. His lines are long, elegant, and clean, and Shiro can hardly help the delight at being right about this. Keith’s a natural.

“What now?” Keith asks, turning his head so he can catch Shiro’s eye. “What is this?”

“This is called side star,” Shiro says, and we have a couple of options, but…” he thinks for a second. “Okay. Take my hands again. Remember to move _slowly_.” He reaches up, bracing his shoulder blades against the mat, and grasping Keith’s hands as they clasp into his own. “Good. Palm to palm, first two fingers down my wrists and second two wrapping around… yeah, just like that. So, what we’re going to do…” Shiro pauses, thinking for a second. “Okay. I want you to tip your upper body downward, and while you’re doing that, I want you to focus on putting weight into my hands. Think about moving into a headstand.”

“A headstand on...what?” Keith asks, frowning.

“Well, nothing. Your head will be free floating. But I’ll have first one foot, and then both feet, on your shoulders.” Keith squints hard, and Shiro tries to rephrase. “The position you were just in? Side star? Arms and legs out, head pointing to the side? We’re rotating that ninety degrees.”

“Ohh,” Keith says, his eyes lighting up with sudden comprehension, “got it.” His gaze narrows again, and Shiro can see every ounce of determination he musters for any challenge kick in all at once. He’s still moving too quickly, too new to recognize the need for deliberateness over speed, too impatient to fully realize that a smooth transition is as much of the goal as the final pose, but agile enough that Shiro’s able to compensate in spite of it. His arms press hard against Shiro’s, and Shiro manages to get his free foot under Keith’s neatly inverted shoulder, catching him as his head drops toward Shiro’s unprotected belly.

“Elbows in,” Shiro says swiftly, “pretend you’re doing a tripod: elbows bent, but forward. Pike your legs.” Keith does, and Shiro exhales in relief, able to straighten his leg slowly to full extension as the balance comes into line, which frees his first leg to set his foot on Keith’s other shoulder, and then… “good job,” Shiro breathes, impressed in spite of having fully expected Keith to excel at this as much as everything else he tries. “You did it.”

“I did it,” Keith echoes, smile reluctantly charming even as his face turns slowly red with the inversion. His black hair falls away from his head, and Shiro can’t help but laugh in pleased surprise.

“Okay,” he says, “I think that’s probably enough for today. You want to get down?”

“I guess,” Keith says, and Shiro files away the hesitation for the next time he wants to teach Keith a new move. “How?”

“The reverse of how you came in,” Shiro says. “Let me get my left foot up to your thigh bend, then you can drop your hips to the side and roll off over it. Ready?”

Keith nods, and Shiro bends his legs, lowering Keith close enough that his hair tickles at Shiro’s undershirt, then sliding his left foot up Keith’s ribs until it finds the flat of his hip bone. “Alright,” he says, “now drop that leg down heavy, and let your body rotate around your hip,” and uses the foot still on Keith’s shoulder to push up.

It’s a little inelegant and a little faster than it should be, but by golly, it works, and suddenly Keith is upright with both feet on the floor and a soft grin on his face. Shiro blows out a breath and takes the hand Keith offers to pull himself up from the floor.

“That was amazing, Keith,” he says honestly, watching as the smile on Keith’s face spreads, making him duck his head and break away from Shiro’s gaze. “You did so well.”

“Thanks,” Keith says, rolling his shoulders. “It was… more fun than I thought it would be.”

“Good,” Shiro answers, clapping him on the back. Keith’s to the point where he doesn’t flinch from any touch anymore, but it still always seems to catch him off guard, so Shiro tries to touch him as much as possible. “We’ll have to do it again sometime.”

Keith just nods, and is silent as they head back to the locker room and shuck their clothes, changing back into their uniforms.

“Why did you want me to do it with you?” Keith asks abruptly as they’re heading out the door. “I’m sure there are plenty of people here with gymnastics or acrobatic training that could partner with you if you just want a buddy.”

Shiro makes a non-committal noise, shifting his gym bag to his other shoulder.

“I know you’re a good fighter, and I know you’re a good pilot. I know you’re good at a lot of things, but they’re all things that involve doing a task independently at best or in outright competition with someone else at worst.” He shrugs. “It’s important to be able to trust others, to work with them toward a common goal. Acro-yoga requires the discipline of following instruction while also adapting to your partner and the situation.”

“So, you want me to learn to play nice.” It’s a statement, not a question, so Shiro wraps an arm around Keith’s shoulders and pulls him into his side, their strides aligning as they head toward the mess hall.

“Of course I do,” Shiro answers, then scrubs his fingers into Keith’s hair, messing it even further before Keith can squawk in outrage and pull away. “But more importantly, I like it,” he says, then waits until Keith turns and catches his eye. Shiro smiles. “And, I like you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Short, dumb, and un-beta'd! Written for the Keithtober prompt of "Garrison" and to fill the Voltron Bingo square for "Training". Also, because I've been doing acro-yoga for two-thirds of a year, and I really love it a lot. Feel free to google star and side-star, but DO NOT try them on your own if you've never done them, ESPECIALLY not without a spotter. They are only kind of beginner moves, and if you don't have the sort of general intense physical prowess these two have, it's not likely to go well for you. That said, I totally recommend checking out classes in your area!! :D


End file.
